Nifty touches 8950, Sensex & Midcap strong; auto stocks in focus

Benchmark indices as well broader markets remained strong in morning, with the Nifty reclaiming 8950 level after Q3 GDP surprised economists and Donald Trump's speech.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 216.76 points or 0.75 percent at 28960.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 55.05 points or 0.62 percent to 8934.65.

The market breadth remained strong as about 1622 shares advanced against 701 declining shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Indian economy grew at a surprisingly fast 7 percent in October-December 2016, from 7.4 percent in the previous quarter and 7.2 percent expansion in third quarter 2015-16 despite demonetisation. Auto stocks were in focus as they started announcing February sales data.